October 31, 2012

The Strange Anti-Obama Texts Blowing Up D.C.-Area Cell Phones

With the worst of Hurricane Sandy past, many D.C.-area residents have been hearing from far-flung friends checking in to make sure they're fine. But some denizens of Washington and the surrounding area have been getting unsolicited texts that don't come from old friends. The Atlantic reports.

On Twitter Tuesday night, political operatives and journalists reported receiving spam texts attacking President Obama. The texts come not from phone numbers but from email addresses, most with mysterious domains: sms@gopmessage.com, sms@votegopett.com, sms@voteett.com. According to Whois.com, which allows searches of domain-name owners, those domains were all registered in February, but the registrant's name is blocked.

That makes it tough to figure out where the texts are coming from. But click here for a sample of what they're saying.

... As the Los Angeles Times explained in September, whoever is sending the texts is exploiting a legal loophole. It's illegal to send unsolicited, automated texts, but it is apparently within the bounds of the law to send them as emails.